Roy Keane criticised Jack Wilshere following Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with CSKA Moscow on Thursday evening, saying he’d be surprised to see him receive big offers this summer.
Keane, who had sung the praises of Liverpool the previous night, wasn’t keen on having a similar conversation about the Gunners, who were less than impressive against the Russian outfit.
Despite coming back to equalise from being 2-0 down, Arsenal progressed to the Europa League semi-final with a 6-3 aggregate win over Viktor Goncharenko’s side, and they will now face Atlético Madrid in the final four.
Goals from Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey rescued Arsenal who were in a precarious position, with Moscow going through with one more goal before Arsenal found the net, and Keane has admitted he is “sick of saying it” when discussing Arsenal’s poor starts to games. Keane said;
Obviously they were dreadful for the first 75 minutes. I’m sick of saying it if you start a game slowly you’re in for a tough night.
We’ve seen it over the last week: better teams than Arsenal starting slowly and heading for trouble. Arsenal did exactly the same. They got out of jail with a bit of quality from Welbeck, but yeah, the first 75 minutes, Arsenal were shocking. Really bad.
We’ve seen the best and worst of Arsenal. Once they got the goal back you thought they’d get a positive result. But football is about setting yourself high standards, and I felt they got out of jail tonight.
Where was the intensity? You have to play the game with a but of intensity. No one closing the ball down.
The danger for the manager at Arsenal is you don’t know what you are going to get and that is a worrying trait to have as a team. They have the quality to hurt teams, but in the semi-final they won’t get away with the mistakes they have been making.
On the topic of Wilshere, Keane criticised the England midfielder’s fitness record, saying;
First of all, we keep hearing he is not fit and you need to be fit if you are going to be a footballer. Every time I see him he is getting treatment or he is carrying a knock.
Listen, maybe people think I have been harsh on him, but I have never been a big fan. For an attacking player, he doesn’t get enough goals, he doesn’t get enough assists. The guy’s career is drifting. As bad as Arsenal were, he was really bad.
Has he been offered a contract? If I was him I’d sign it quickly because if he thinks he is going to be getting big offers in the summer I’d be surprise. Again, the big question mark over him on top of what he lacks is he never seems to be fit. That is a big problem.
Wilshere has been linked with a move to rival Premier League side Everton, while he has also been offered a new deal with Arsenal, although he has so far rejected the terms the club have offered.
